JR Elsewhere

Convenient Arrest Warrants

Dolkun Isa, secretary general of the World Uyghur Congress, was denied entry into South Korea on Tuesday, and arrested on the airport, by reason of an Interpol warrant. The WUC reported his release and his return to Germany yesterday. The Society for Threatened Peoples (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, GfbV) believes that the warrant was implemented by Beijingto silence one of the most important Uyghur human rights activists in exile, GfbV Asia consultant Ulrich Delius said. “Once again China is using its long arm to intimidate Uyghur critics abroad.”

Dolkun Isa is a German citizen. The GfbV points out that having an international arrest warrant issued is usually easy, as he legality of the respective national warrants issued in the prosecuting state is not as a rule subject to scrutiny. The Chinese government suggests that the World Uyghur Congress is “a terrorist organization”.

In 2005, Isa was arrested by the UN security service, apparently on the basis of Chinese security information when he visited the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. According to GfbV, the UN later apologized for the incident.